School teachers to potters with a curiosity for wine (1965 -1976)

Written by Roslyn Happ. Edited by Jeremy Happ.

Erl Happ was born in 1943 and was raised in the tiny timber town of Wilga, also in Roleystone, Rockingham, Bassendean, North Perth and Balingup. His father Frank Happ was a storekeeper. With a degree in history and economics, Erl began teaching at the Busselton High school in 1966. I was born in 47, grew up in Perth, and graduated as a science teacher. I was appointed to Busselton in 69 and married Erl in 1970. We played our part in the founding of the Margaret river wine region.

Erl's interest in pottery began when as an 18 year old he stumbled across a fascinating potting village whilst teaching in Borneo. Back in Australia, this was a virtually non-existent industry and the craft captured his attention. He made a start while teaching at Busselton High School, taking up night classes given by the art teacher, and swapped to metal work to make a wheel from an old washing machine. This he installed in the backyard of his boarding house, along with several 44 gallon drums for making clay, and a pile of bricks for kilns.

When I moved to Busselton I had long blond hair, wore a mini skirt, and was enjoying my first years away from home. This is when I met Erl. I was impressed! What an innovative and creative fellow. Not only that, he kept a yacht in the garage, which he'd also built. He would take the young teachers out sailing into the never never on Geographe Bay on Friday afternoons. How romantic! He was a guy who listened to an eclectic collection of records with no care as to 'the latest fashion'; who wears brown cardigans to school and has no notion that he is handsome; whose friends mostly make things; who's shy and doesn't like parties; who's generous and friendly; who can body surf; who has no axe to grind with his family; who knew that he had the chance to make his life interesting; who loves hard work... in short 'quite a guy'!

I was a high achiever at school, winner of 'best all rounder award' and head girl. I suppose I was bound to marry a high achiever with an obsession for learning and 'doing things'. I was in the process of discovering the challenges that came with such qualities. My girl friends could see that I was not making an easy choice. There were bound to be some exciting and fiery times ahead. Nevertheless, we became 'good friends' and I appreciated the tremendous drive to learn which was characteristic of everything he did.

On our picnics, we would bring home clay samples to analyse. If we went to Perth, we would visit brick works, watch the brick making machines, talk to the ceramic chemists and those who fired the kilns.

Erl was fascinated with the process of clay and fire. The actual making of pots seemed to be of secondary importance. This was just as well as there were many firings when all the pots cracked or exploded. However, he gradually refined his knowledge, and after some time, began producing good pots. I loved doing it too. We were invited to have an exhibition in Busselton, which promptly sold out.

We were married by now, and had built a small two-story house on the beach front at Vasse. Erl worked weekends and holidays in the garage workshop. We erected a few shelves, and invited the public. The demand became insatiable. Erl developed a fast throwing style with a natural instinct for simple and elegant forms. My throwing was stalled when I was five months pregnant and could no longer bend over the wheel. I continued with the finishing off and cleaning up jobs which was creatively frustrating. However, I used my science background to develop new glazes which was exciting. We picked a lot of brains, devoured books (mostly Japanese), and attended workshops by visiting potters such as Shigeo Shiga. Without knowing it, our artistic philosophy became heavily influenced by Zen Buddhism, which transformed the art into somewhat of a meditative discipline.

We were very lucky with our location - our uncle owned the block next door and beyond that were ten acres of beach front bush. We had our own track to the beach. It was a great place for children. The neighbours didn't complain about our non suburban activities. However, after eight years of marriage and three children, the youngest still a baby, we decided that we needed to move on. We needed more space for the pottery and Erl felt that he could now retire from teaching and make a good living from pottery alone.